It’s no surprise that survey after survey shows that open water swimming is the biggest challenge for triathlon participants. In fact, it’s also the biggest factor that prevents some people from trying the sport in the first place. We’re just not designed to be naturally comfortable in a horizontal position, with our oxygen being cut ...…
I’m writing this from 37,000 feet somewhere over the vast wasteland that is Siberia, Russia (apparently it’s a shortcut from Australia back to the UK). Peering out the airplane window down to the frozen tundra I can’t help but wonder how things – let alone people – survive in a stark environment like that. Then ...…
Triathlon is shaping up to be one of the marquee events at the London 2012 Olympics. Not only is the strong field of women and men featuring home nation favourites – Helen Jenkins, Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee – but the course is one of the few venues that is widely open to the public. With ...…
Olympic fever is in full swing in London! I’ve always been a huge fan and can easily recall the main highlights and stars from the last 30 years of the Olympics. The 2012 Games, however, has extra special – and very personal – meaning for me. In just a few days I’ll be running with ...…
In last week’s Part 1 of this article, I gave you a key approach to developing greater consistency. It’s one of the most common issues I help triathletes improve in since it’s the foundation for all success. The second part of the issue is how to summon more self-discipline. While the question may be asked ...…
A common question I get from triathletes relates to “being more consistent and disciplined”. Not a surprise given the length and volume of training put in over a season. It’s hard to be ‘great’ day in and day out. Here’s a specific comment I recently received from a 50-year-old female age grouper in New Jersey: ...…
It’s a pitfall that many triathletes fall into. Weeks and months of training hard, testing a nutrition strategy, planning the details of what goes in the transition bag and deciding what’s left behind. All in the name of having a great — perhaps a perfect — race. But as I often tell athletes I coach, ...…
We’re capable of so much more than we realise. Most of us know precious little about what makes it possible to achieve and sustain excellence (in sport and in life), especially as the speed and complexity of demand in our lives rise relentlessly. But experience and research shows there clear, common traits that form a ...…
If Kona is where the legends are made, then we’ll long be talking about Chrissie Wellington. On October 8, 2011 Chrissie battled like she never has had to before to become a four-time Ironman World Champion. Despite being in great shape, going into the annual Hawaii showdown she was already mentally and physically hampered due ...…
There’s no doubt that swimming is the most challenging discipline for most triathletes. It can be uncomfortable, undesirable and evoke fear of the unknown, which often leads to lower enjoyment of training, knocking down your confidence and create frustration in one’s overall abilities to compete. It’s also the element of triathlon that demands excellence in ...…
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